In this photo taken May 24, 2010, a man walks in front of a bank owned foreclosed home in Palo Alto, Calif. RealtyTrac Inc. will report half-year foreclosure rates Thursday, July 15, 2010. (Paul Sakuma)

(Newser)
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More than 1 million American households are likely to lose the roof over their heads to foreclosure this year, as lenders work their way through a huge backlog of borrowers who have fallen behind on their loans. Nearly 528,000 homes were repossessed by lenders in the first six months of the year, putting 2010 on pace to eclipse the more than 900,000 homes repossessed in 2009, according to data released today by RealtyTrac. "That would be unprecedented," a RealtyTrac VP said.

By comparison, lenders have historically taken over about 100,000 homes a year. Banks have been slower to start the foreclosure process, afraid to flood the market with repossessed homes. But at the same time, lenders have stepped up repossessions in an effort to clear out the backlog of distressed inventory on their books. In all about 1.7 million homeowners received foreclosure notices from January to June, which is about one in every 78 US homes.

Fannie, Freddie, and govt. oversight is working well for the great society... let's try universal health care next!

odowd80

Jul 15, 2010 1:34 PM CDT

All your house belong to us! Credit scores are plummeting, banks are repossessing homes, people are out of work, and Republicans are blocking any spending that will help average Americans. What are banks going to do with all these homes if they won't lend any money?!